Duchess Zerbina

Duchess Zerbina is the martial ruler of Darstan in Red, co-founder (by marriage to Baron Volstak) of the upstart central polity that has grown into a kingdom-in-all-but-name; she leads Darstan's armies personally and is known for yearly conquests of new baronies and duchies, while Volstak handles political consolidation (their daughter is Princess Bella). When the Conclave collapsed into the Muddle in Middlesea time‑stasis her husband vanished and was badly wounded, and Zerbina has since been urgent and strategic—dispatching agents (including Lord Denis, Bordan and the Red mage Hiraz) to investigate, using a lifebond/Life connection to keep and strengthen a link to Volstak in Middlesea. Politically shrewd and martial, she is focused on getting Volstak rescued and stabilizing Darstan against pressure from neighboring powers (notably King Richard's Lands and Berana) while still operating from the ducal title rather than claiming kingship outright.

(summarized with chat GPT)